Split End ~ Dylan Cantrell ~ Texas Tech Red Raiders ~ 6027/225

Regarding Split Ends

Most Fans don't know that WideOuts can generally be broken down into 3 Categories, based on traditional Roles, and that those Roles naturally enough call for 3 distinctive Skill Sets, based on the classic X, Y, and Z Positions:

Split Ends are usually the bigger, taller WideOuts who line up in the X Position, on the Line of Scrimmage.SlotBacksare usually the quicker, smaller WideOuts who line up at the Y Position, off the Line.FlankerBacksare usually the faster WideOuts who line up at the Z Position, off the Line.

The Split End prototype would be about 6030/225 or so. Big. Chain Movers and Red Zone Targets.The Flankerprototype would be about 6000/200 or so. Fast. Big Play Threats.The SlotBackprototype would be about 5010/195 or so.Quick. Chain Movers.

However a given Coach chooses to deploy the Soldiers at his disposal is of course entirely up to him, and most WideOuts will see Snaps at multiple Positions and in multiple Alignments, but I believe that it is valuable to categorize WideOuts in terms of classic Skill Sets, to better define the differences in the kind of Impact they might wield at the next level.

This is how I break things down when I'm evaluating all WideOuts:

Separation: Getting Open. This encompasses Combat Skills & Fluidity to beat Press, Acceleration out'f the Blocks, Fluidity and Ricochet in navigating Traffic, Route Running Precision, the capacity to deceive Defenders, and Field Vision for Timing Seems and Open Zones. All other Aspects of a WideOut's Job Description are dwarfed by this one.

Yards After Catch are well and fine, but it seems to me that 90% of the Value of a Flex End and any WideOut is getting open and catching the Ball. Anyone who's read my Work extensively knows that I consider Blocking to be the Heart & Soul of FootBall, but that is a philosophical position, and I recognize that with most Philosophies, where it comes to Wide Receivers and Flex Ends...it's just Gravy. And so is Yards After Catch: Moving The Chains is What Wins.

Chunk Yardage: An highly overrated Aspect of the Game, I believe, so much so that in fact I didn't even include it in 2016. It is not a negligible Aspect of the Game, so I'm bringing it back, but getting open, catching the Ball, and Moving the Chains are far more crucial to a Team's Success, I believe, than making Splash Plays and getting on ESPN HighLights Reels. Power, Fluidity, Ricochet, Speed, Combat Skills, and Processing Speed/Field Vision all play into Chunk Yardage.

Blocking: It was a Mistake to leave this Aspect ~ my very favorite Aspect of FootBall ~ out'f 2016's Flex End Reports, and I'm very happy to correct that Mistake, evermore. Blocking of course comes down to Power, Agility, Frame, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor, and further breaks down into In Line Blocking and Open Field Blocking.

Separation: 60. Agility? 33. Marginal Speed and mediocre Acceleration, though with adequate Ricochet and Fluidity. Route Running? 60. An extremely short list on the Texas Tech Air Raid Routing Repertoire, but well executed. Instincts for the Scramble Drills and for Open Zone? 100. Cantrell will rarely get very open, but will often get open enough.

Blocking: 90. Intense, Motivated, and with exceptional Combat Skills for a WideOut.

Red Flag:Old as Dirt. 24 by September. Demerit.

Dylan Cantrell ~ Prospectus

The funny part is that what first got me interested in Dylan Cantrell was his magnificent Fluidity Numbers at The Combine.

Those numbers don't seem to translate to the Field of Battle, but as my Fellow FootBall Fiends know, I believe in Intrinsic Fluidity and Power ~ sometimes suggested in Combine and Pro Day Numbers ~ even when it doesn't necessarily manifest itself on the GridIron...But as my Fellow FootBall Fiends also know, I am not a slave to those Numbers, and recognize that the Casualty Rate in eventually translating those beautiful Numbers into FootBall Fluidity and Power...is very high.

And yet I consider Dylan Cantrell to be an intensely intriguing Prospect, despite his Agility appearing, currently, far less evocative of an Anaconda than of FrankenStein...because of the rest of his Game.

Ceiling? Warrior. 2nd Round. With his extraordinary Field Vision and Processing Speed and his amazing consequent capacity to consistently find Seams and Open Zones, combined with potential dominance at the Catch Point, as well as his phenomenal Blocking, he could make an immense impact. And should his Intrinsic Fluidity actually come to translate into Functional Fluidity ~ the odds are long, my friends!! ~ I'd have to call'm pretty much unstoppable, as he would become very hard to cover as well as dominant at the Catch Point, and go with SuperBeast, Top 10 and probably Top 3!!

Floor? Reserve. 6th/7th Round. The difference between not getting open, on the one hand, and not getting very open yet getting open enough, to reference terminology that I seem to be inventing and rapidly becoming fond of, can be the difference, given other skills, between getting cut and making multiple Pro Bowls. Should I prove to've overestimated Cantrell's Agility, Instincts, Field Vision, or any other aspect of'is Game, he could sink like a stone.

Risk/Reward Ratio? Attractive. Cantrell's Game exhibits truckloads of Intelligence and Drive, evidenced by his Instincts, his Field Vision, his Tracking & Timing, and his Blocking. This is a man who has clearly invested years of intensive Time & Training into the Game, and has just as clearly reaped the benefits. This is a guy you want to bet on.

Thank you so very much, Draft BreakDown, without whom my Work would be virtually impossible.

Yank Rank: Warrior ~ Deeper Sleeper!!

Market Value

#191

Yankee Grade

2nd/3rd Round

Please do Note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: This and all CyberScouting Reports issued by this Site are produced by a ludicrously unqualified Amateur, privy to not even the tiniest fraction of Coach's Tape, Scouting Expertise, Face to Face Interviewing, Experience, or Inside Information enjoyed by the Professionals. As such, anything put forth is certainly misinformed, euphonious, derivative Tripe, and should be rejected out'f hand and indeed shunned by all men and women with even reasonable levels of intelligence or Good Will!! I'm trying to discern Power, Agility, Combat Skills, and far more abstract, esoteric Concepts such as Processing Speed and Motor, and Intelligence and Drive, and I'm trying to do so based almost entirely on a fascinating fusion of Tape, Combine Numbers, and Pro Days, while trying to attenuate my findings based on making Allowances for Competition Level, Scheme, Concept, Context, and, above all: Trajectory!!

Please also note, Fellow FootBall Fiends: These CyberScouting Reports are not intended as predictions of success or failure, but as assessments ~ ludicrously amateurish assessments ~ of potential success. FootBall is a rough and often unfair business, and many a worthy Prospect has fallen far short of his potential, sometimes not because of his own failings, but because of those of coaching, scheme, timing...or because huge investments were made on other Prospects.

In other words: If any of my Super Dooper Deeper Sleepers ever fail to fulfill their vast potential, I’m confident that it goes without saying that it wasn’t their fault…or mine!!...Yes, I think that I'm being funny.